Observer editors, writers honored with awards by Indiana Collegiate Press Association
Observer Staff Report
The observer won third place in the d ivision i “newspaper of the year” category at the i ndiana c ollegiate p ress a ssociation ( icpa) awards ceremony held s aturday at i ndiana university in bloomington. staff members took home 20 other awards.
former a ssistant managing
By CAROLINA WILSON
n ews w riter
e ditor a ndrew o wens was named the brook b aker c ollegiate Journalist of the year, making him the third notre dame student in four years to be honored. The award, which began in 1999, is named for a deceased student journalist at v incennes university.
o wens placed in the “b est e ntertainment feature story” category as well, winning
second for his o ct. 22 piece “c ollege g ameday.”
The observer took second place in the “b est single i ssue” category for the nov. 27 issue “m iami b ound,” published after the football team’s victory over usc first place in the “b est stand-a lone/p ullout s ection” category went to The observer’s “p re-national championship coverage.”
The 2011-12 observer
e ditorial b oard took first place in the “b est staff e ditorial” category for its a pril 27, 2012, piece “Jenky should issues a formal apology.” The former board also won second place in the same category for the s ept. 14, 2012 editorial “g etting serious about sexual assault.” former a ssistant managing e ditor s am stryker won second place in “b est news feature story” for “g ay students
discuss coming out at notre dame,” the second in a threepart series in The observer last year. stryker also took third place in “b est e ntertainment feature story” for his coverage of student union b oard’s s eth myers comedy show in s eptember, titled “s eth myers brings the laughs at stepan.” 2011-12 m anaging e ditor
International students visit SMC celebrates parents weekend
The 2013 h esburgh i nternational s cholars e xperience ( hise ) welcomed 69 prospective international students to campus on s aturday.
Julie d enkler, a ssistant d irector in the o ffice of u ndergraduate a dmission said the program promotes a stronger relationship between the u niversity and the international sphere.
“ w e’re thrilled and excited to have this year’s h esburgh i nternational s cholars to campus,” d enkler said. “ i t’s a wonderful opportunity for them to get to know n otre
Prospective students for the 2013 Hesburgh International Scholar Experience pose on the steps of Main Building on Sunday afternoon.
d ame a little bit better and it’s a fantastic opportunity for those of us here on
campus to welcome in a
By KELLY KONYA news w riter
s aint m ary’s c ollege welcomed mothers from all corners of the globe f riday for the c ollege’s annual Junior mom’s weekend.
a lthough the current junior class is the smallest on campus with only 260 students, roughly 400 people attended the weekend’s events.
Junior Katherine sullivan, student body president, said more than half of the class registered, which showed just how special the weekend is for juniors.
“Kym d oing, who is studying abroad here from a ustralia, had her mom fly to the states for the events, and my friend l andess Kearns had her mom come all the way from h awaii,” sullivan said.
The weekend officially kicked off f riday afternoon with registration and a wine and cheese reception in stapleton l ounge. Junior class president c arolyn b ackes said the reception was a great way for the juniors to introduce their mothers to
core council sponsors lgbTQ awareness week
By ANN MARIE JAKUBOWSKI
ews e ditor
n
The c ore c ouncil kicks off “ s ta nd a gainst h ate w eek” today, a week designed to spread awareness and to show support for the l esbian, g ay, b isexual, Transgender and Questioning ( lgb TQ) community on campus with a lineup of events through f riday.
Tonight’s “ h ow to b e an a lly” dinner brings together panelists from the g ender r elations c enter ( grc ) and student allies, sophomore c ouncil member m aggie
w aickman said ( e ditor’s note: w aickman writes for the s cene section of The o bserver.). Three panelists will speak about what being an ally means to them, after which participants will form discussion groups to discuss how to be allies in the lgb TQ community, she said.
The primary topics covered will be what it means to be an ally, how it works at n otre d ame specifically and what the relationship between c atholicism and being an ally is, w aickman
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Brandon Boldt junior o’neill hall
“bran stark, because he has an awesome
Vinnie Birch junior carroll hall
“g ollum, because he
Neil Flattery junior alumni hall
“Tyrion, because he’s the
and in the
of the intrigue.”
Mike Giuliano sophomore sorin college
“Jaime l annister, because he has a compelling backstory.”
Sam Jones junior carroll hall
“gimli, because he’s little.”
Kyle Sant sophomore sorin college
“Jaime l annister, because he’s dead sexy.”
Members of the Keenan, Stanford and Duncan interhall tennis teams flock to the Courtney Tennis Courts to enjoy the sunshine Sunday afternoon. Because the temperature lingered above 70 degrees, students took advantage of the weather all over campus. Have
Monday
Film: “Sun Come Up”
LaFortune Student Center
8 p.m.-9 p.m.
Discussion to follow.
Aase Berg Reading Eck Visitors Center
7:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m.
Hear Berg read selections from her poetry.
Tuesday
Men’s Baseball
Eck Baseball Stadium
5:35 p.m.-7:35 p.m.
The Irish take on the Michigan Wolverines.
Film: “Switch Energy Project”
Jordan Hall of Science
7 p.m.-9 p.m.
Explores the world’s leading energy sites.
Wednesday
MFA Reading Hesburgh Library
7:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m.
Reading of creative writing pieces.
Wellness Wednesday Coleman-Morse Center Lounge
6 p.m.-8 p.m.
Arts and crafts event to relieve student stress.
Thursday
Women’s Softball
Melissa Cook Stadium
5 p.m.-7 p.m.
The Irish face off against Valparaiso.
Wham! Bam! Poetry
Slam
Snite Museum of Art
5 p.m.-7:30 p.m.
First annual poetry slam.
Friday
Soup and Substance:
Education in Africa Geddes Hall
12 p.m.-1:15 p.m. CSC discussion.
Spring Concert
DeBartolo Performing Arts Center
8 p.m.-10:30 p.m.
The Symphony Orchestra performs.
LAUREN FRITZ | The Observer
nd hosts language contest Students join service project
By WEI LIN n ews w riter
p articipants showcased weeks of preparation f riday during the c hinese p rogram’s s ixth a nnual c hinese s peech c ontest, which featured elaborate skits, dialogues and monologues.
s tudents from all five c hinese language levels participated in the contest, which took place in the auditorium of the h esburgh c enter. The judges, which including faculty from n otre d ame and other schools, evaluated the performances and distributed awards for each grade level.
“o ur primary goal in organizing this event is to promote the study of c hinese at n otre
d ame and to foster a sense of community among our language students,” c hinese associate teaching professor c hengxu y in said. “ we believe the speech contest provides an excellent opportunity for students to get to know each better and for students at lower levels to witness what they can achieve at higher levels.”
The performances progressed from the beginner level to more advanced levels. The skits and dialogues were presented in c hinese and accompanied by p ower p oint slides that provided the e nglish translations.
“ e veryone there enjoyed every moment and every performance,” c hinese language visiting assistant professor yanjing wang said.
s ophomore a udrey m c m urtrie and freshman c amilla m ampieri
performed a spoof of the popular “ nd c onfessions” facebook page. The pair collected “confessions” from a number of c hinese students through f acebook, translated them and then turned them into a skit.
d ominic r omeo, a fifth-
“That moment, perhaps more than any other during the year, captured the essence of the passion and enthusiasm that truly distinguishes Notre Dame’s Chinese department.”
Dominic Romeo junior Chinese student
year c hinese student, and g eorge l iu, a fourth-year c hinese student, debated whether or not Taiwan is an independent country. l iu argued against independence, and r omeo argued for the recognition of the country. r omeo said the issue is a very controversial debate being discussed frequently in c hinese and Taiwanese politics.
c ontestants were nominated by classmates and approved by professors, entirely based off of their performance in classes. a fter a student committed to participate in the contest, professors worked with them to correct their scripts and to help them practice their speaking skills.
c hinese professors also prepared songs in c hinese for the event. They took
popular c hinese songs, wrote new lyrics and created a video featuring pictures from classes, c hinese events and the previous year’s contest.
The lyrics expressed the students’ dedication to studying the language, support for the c hinese p rogram and love for the university. s tudents of all grade levels joined to sing the two songs at the conclusion of the contest.
“That moment, perhaps more than any other during the year, captured the essence of the passion and enthusiasm that truly distinguishes n otre d ame’s c hinese department,” r omeo said.
r omeo said this year’s speech contest was a major success.
“ s tudents from all levels demonstrated the growth of their language skills that has taken place over the course of the last year,” r omeo said. “a wide range of exciting and entertaining topics were covered, keeping students, teachers, and other members of the crowd highly engaged.”
a lthough measures can be taken to improve attendance of the event, y in said this year’s event showed huge promise for coming years.
“This year we had the largest attendance ever,” y in said “The h esburgh auditorium was packed beyond capacity, with many students having to sit on the floor … i am very proud of what the c hinese p rogram has done to promote c hinese studies at n otre d ame.”
Contact Wei Lin at wlin4@nd.edu
By KAITLYN RABACH saint mary’s editor
on saturday, an estimated 75 saint mary’s students joined members of the larger south bend community to participate in rebuilding Together, a community-driven effort to rehabilitate homes in south bend.
according to its website, rebuilding Together is a non-profit, community-based partnership comprised of volunteers from local government, businesses, and other nonprofits that rehabilitates the homes of low-income homeowners and improves neighborhoods. saint mary’s students have been involved in the rehabilitation for nine years.
“it is recorded that over 80 percent of our student body does some type of volunteer work before graduating,” erica buhring, director of the office of civic and social engagement, said. “The rebuilding Together event is a great event for students to participate in because they can see immediate results.”
according to the south bend Tribune, the rehabilitation focuses on low-income neighborhoods and this year 18 homes will be rehabilitated in the city’s westsidelasalle park neighborhood.
“This event allows students to move off campus and go to some very diverse neighborhoods,” buhring said. “rather than just reading about diversity, these students have the opportunity to go out and bring this diversity to life. They can crush different assumptions.”
it is through opportunities like this that students have the opportunity to connect with those in the larger south bend community in very real and tangible ways, buhring said.
“saint mary’s is part of a larger community,” buhring said. “i think this can be forgotten. … it is a good chance to work side by side with members of the larger south bend community.”
markie harrison, student director of the office of civic and social engagement, said she heard
about the event from students who participated in it last year and decided to sign up after hearing their testimony.
“i had heard from people who did the program last year that it was a lot of fun,” harrison said. “plus, i really enjoy helping out in the community and this just seemed like an optimal event.”
she said the volunteers’ day began around 7 a.m. and lasted until 3 p.m. volunteers performed basic household task such as painting, planting and putting in new windows. her group performed work at the house of a retired veteran who is unable to perform much basic housework himself, she said.
“The transformation on the inside of the house was amazing,” harrison said. “it was nice because we were able to see the difference made that day.”
sophomore batool alsawalha said this experience introduced her to new members of the community. her work allowed her to see how simple things like paining a house of fixing a door can actually make “the world of difference,” she said.
“i study engineering and would one day like to work in more rural areas to see what type of infrastructure can be fixed and things,” alsawalha said. “This event was a great opportunity to not only branch out and work with people outside of the campus community, but to also see how important proper windows, doors, or kitchen cabinets really can be.”
buhring said events like rebuiding Together help advance the mission of the college and provide opportunities for students to be involved in experiential learning.
“at this institution, and this office in particular, we strongly advocate the positive effects of experiential learning,” buhring said. “events like rebuilding Together, really add that practical component to our students’ education. it brings volunteering and classwork together in a meaningful way.”
Contact Kaitlyn Rabach at krabac01@saintmarys.edu
Photo courtesy of Chengxu Yin
Participants in the Sixth Annual Chinese Speech Contest gather in the Hesburgh Center for International Studies following the competition.
Photo courtesy of Markie Harrison
Sophomores Markie Harrison and Molly Levi clean a retired war veteran’s home through Rebuilding Together on Saturday afternoon.
s arah mervosh, class of 2012, won third place in the “b est breaking news reporting” category for “university addresses lgb TQ concerns,” published a pril 26, 2012.
a ssistant managing e ditor matthew d efranks took second place in “b est news or feature s eries” for “ waking the e choes,” a series highlighting past notre dame football players and their lives after graduation.
s cene e ditor Kevin noonan took second place in “b est e ntertainment c olumn” for his piece on the film saga’s move to d isney, titled “star wars moves to the dark side.”
Kirby mcKenna, multimedia editor, won second place in “b est feature photo” for her a ugust b oys l ike girls concert photo “b oys l ike b1.” former multimedia e ditor s arah o’c onnor took third place in the same category for her s eptember photo “s eth myers at notre dame.”
former photo e ditor suzanna p ratt took first place in “b est sports photo” for her action shot during the o ct. 27 football game against oklahoma, called “statement win.”
s econd place in “b est blog” went to “observer p assport,” featuring the study abroad experiences of former e ditorin- c hief a llan Joseph, former managing e ditor megan d oyle, a ssistant managing e ditor marisa iati, s aint mary’s e ditor Kaitlyn r abach, photo e ditor grant Tobin, news writer mel f lanagan and s cene writer Troy mathew.
o’c onnor and web e ditor Kevin s ong won first place in “b est v ideo” for “b engal b outs 2012,” showcasing the experiences of members of notre dame’s men’s club boxing team.
former g raphics e ditor brandon Keelean won first place in “b est d esign of blackand-w hite house a d” for “c ongratulations.” Keelean also took first in “b est d esign of f ull- c olor house a d” for “final four.”
The observer took third place in “b est r ate c ard,” crediting Keelean, Joseph, a dvertising manager e mily Kopetsky and former advertising manager monica mc c ormack. a ll four were also honored with first place in “b est g eneral media Kit.” o ther university publications represented at icpa were s cholastic, which took first place in “news magazine of the year,” d ome yearbook, which won second place in the d ivision i “ yearbook of the year” category and The Juggler, which took second place in “l iterary m agazine of the year.”
The observer’s award-winning submissions are available on its website, www.ndsmcobserver.com.
community from around the world.”
This year’s program has exceeded the diversity level of previous years, d enkler said. This included 69 attendees from 19 different countries and 27 countries of citizenship.
Junior p aulina r ullán, an undergraduate leader for the hise planning committee, said the diversity international students bring to campus is essential for an ideal college experience.
“The admissions team has put together a weekend filled with great events, speakers, campus tours and information sessions to demonstrate to the international students what makes n otre d ame special and unique,” r ullán said. o ne of the most
memorable events includes a meeting with u niversity p resident e meritus f r. Theodore h esburgh, she said.
“The program was created in honor of f r. h esburgh’s
“The students are excited to meet with Fr. Hesburgh, and he in turn looks forward to the international visits each year.”
Paulina Rullan junior
interest and passion for international students,” she said. “The students are excited to meet with f r. h esburgh, and he in turn looks forward to the international visits each year.”
Jake b aska, area-admissions counselor for the international markets including a frica, a sia, a ustralia, c anada, e urope and the m iddle e ast, said n otre d ame hopes to inspire and educate through the hise program.
“ w hile certain aspects of our personality certainly reflect distinctively a merican ideals — such as our love of football — n otre d ame hopes to train future leaders who will not just serve the u nited s tates but the larger world as well,” b aska said. “To accomplish this mission, we need the perspective of students from different nations and different cultural backgrounds to broaden the discussions and debates that drive the student body.”
r obert m undy, director of admissions, said creating global leaders is also at the
heart of the hise program.
“ w e are all more aware of the global economy and worldwide connections in so many areas. n otre d ame should be active in developing leaders for this international economy,” m undy said. “ i t’s also exciting to imagine the n otre d ame community and influence continuing to expand globally.”
l ucrecia s iman, a prospective student from e l s alvador, said n otre d ame has already left a lasting impression.
“ n otre d ame has made me feel like home since i got here. i t is extremely special and everyone has been very welcoming. e very minute that goes by makes me want to be i rish for life,” s iman said.
Contact Carolina Wilson at cwilso16@nd.edu
her mother and friends.
one another. The wine and cheese social was a perfect start to the weekend and it was nice to see everyone with their moms,” b ackes said.
The juniors and their moms received complementary gift bags that included s aint mary’s wine glasses, earrings from f lourish boutique and matching longsleeve t-shirts.
“The t-shirts were a huge hit,” junior class vice president susie l arson said. “ we did a spin-off of the popular ‘Keep c alm and c arry o n’ logo, the t-shirts say, ‘Keep c alm and c all your mom’ on the backs. e veryone has been wearing them around all weekend long.”
o n s aturday, the women toured the r iedinger house, the residence of official friends of the college who visit campus, and the heritage room to learn more about the history of the college. sullivan said this tour allowed the b elles to share the college’s heritage with the moms.
“my mom is a s aint mary’s alumna, and she learned so much about the tradition of the college that she wasn’t aware of prior to the tours,” sullivan said. “it was very cool to learn the history and relate that to where we are as a college today.”
Tea and cookies in h aggar p arlor followed the tours. Then, many of the juniors and their visitors attended a mass in holy spirit c hapel of l e m ans hall.
s aturday evening’s dinner at the h ilton g arden hotel was one of the favorite events of the weekend, l arson said. The dinner featured a silent auction, cocktail hour and a surprise performance by The undertones.
“it all came together at the h ilton g arden dinner, especially when [ s aint mary’s] p resident [ c arol a nn] mooney gave her amazing speech that left most of us in tears,” l arson said.
sullivan said the speech focused encouraging the
said.
“ i ’m particularly excited to hear people’s thoughts on whether individuals have to be outside the lgb TQ community to identify as an ally,” w aickman said. “There’s the question of whether someone who identifies as gay can be an ally to another gay person and how we see n otre d ame students who identify as straight acting as allies.
Week-
juniors to embrace the opportunities offered by s aint m ary’s as they enter their final year of college.
“p resident mooney said to the mothers that the women sitting in front of them, meaning their daughters, are not the same women they were at 14 years old or even the same women they were when they began their college experiences,” sullivan said. “she said that something very special happens to a woman at s aint m ary’s, and as an alumna, she realizes how much her experience impacted her life and who she is today.”
The weekend turned out to be a huge success for the juniors and their moms, l arson said.
“ we were all so excited about it because we are very close to our moms,” l arson said “it’s really important to have a relationship like that, i think. The weekend was a celebration of the bonds that we have at s aint mary’s in our sisterhood, and then being able to share that with.
Contact Kelly Konya at kkonye01@sainmarys.edu
“There’s a lot of nuance to the label ‘ally,’ and there’s a lot we can learn from talking about it.”
Tuesday night’s event will be a screening of the movie “ b ully” in room 101 of d e b artolo h all at 9 p.m., council member l auren m orisseau said. This will be followed by a prayer service held w ednesday at 8:30 p.m. at the g rotto.
“ i think [the prayer service] is great because there is definitely a spiritual side to what we do as a community and with solidarity work,” m orisseau said. “There are a lot of lgb TQ people on campus whose faith is important to them. i t’s going to be a c atholic prayer service but we’ll shoot for a universal theme, open to people of all faiths.”
w aickman said the prayer service is a key part of the week, and she hopes next year’s lgb TQ student support organization will continue addressing the spiritual aspects of their mission.
“ w e chose to do a prayer service because we’ve talked for a long time about how there’s disconnect between the lgb TQ community and spirituality and faith life,” w aickman said. “ i think there’s a specific struggle
that many members of the community go through in regards to faith, and there’s no real good outlet [currently].”
f ree t-shirts designed by sophomore Keri o ’ m ara will be distributed from 12 to 2 p.m. Thursday at the f ieldhouse m all. a solidarity-themed a cousticafe will take place at 10 p.m. thanks to a collaborative effort by the c ore c ouncil and the s tudent u nion b oard ( sub ), m orisseau said.
“[ a cousticafe] will run as usual, but the performers will sing solidarity based songs … so the focus is on sharing music and sharing time together,” she said.
The final event of the week will be a “ d ay of s ilence” on f riday, which is a nationwide tradition m orisseau described as “a real challenge.”
“ p eople wear a sticker or have a card that says they’re not speaking for the day to try to honor the silence of people who really cannot be honest with who they are,” she said. “ i t’s relevant to everyone included in the ‘ lgb TQ’ acronym.
“ i t is challenging, and i think it opens a lot of people’s minds because a lot of us have never felt that we’ve had to hide who we are,” she said.
o verall, “This week is about love, not politics,” w aickman said.
“ s ta nd a gainst h ate w eek expresses a sentiment the entire n otre d ame family can get behind,” she said. “Traditionally, the turnout for [the week’s events] has been mostly from the lgb TQ community on campus, so we wanted to make a big effort to broaden the target audience for s ta nd a gainst h ate w eek.” m orisseau said the collaborations with the grc and sub have been “one of
the best experiences of this whole thing.”
“ i t’s great to work with administrators who really do care about student needs and who are committed to providing for students and encouraging growth on campus,” m orisseau said. “ b etween grc and sub , it’s been really positive this year. This is the last year that c ore c ouncil reasonably will be existing because of the [new] student organization, which will take responsibility for a lot of this planning [next year].”
The role of allies will be emphasized this week because their efforts are crucial elements of the lgb TQ community relations on campus, m orisseau said.
“ w e want to broaden the definition of ally, because a lot of people say ‘yeah, i ’m an ally’ but then they don’t necessarily know what that means for them, what that means for their lives. i think some people incorporate it into their identity more than others,” she said. “ o n this campus, it’s not necessarily a given that you would be an ally, but significantly more people are allies than you might think. i ’m very impressed by how many we have here.”
w aickman said the occasional tension on campus because of lgb TQ issues can be alleviated with more discussion and dialogue.
“ b eing an ally and walking with our brothers and sisters in c hrist — that’s something that’s not divisive, and it can unify our campus,” w aickman said. “ b ringing out that unity is what s ta nd a gainst h ate w eek is all about.”
Contact Ann Marie Jakubowski at ajakubo1@nd.edu
Photo courtesy of Katherine Sullivan
Katherine Sullivan, third from left, celebrates Junior Mom’s
end with
inSidE Column
gun range lessons
last Thursday, i stepped far out of my comfort zone and went to a gun range for the first time. in fact, i went to two gun ranges within a four-hour period.
This was not just a random visit. i had a purpose. my anthropology class requires students to pick a site and compose a short ethnography about it. with everything going on in the united states right now regarding gun rights, i thought it would be an interesting place to observe. This interest then led me to the Kodiak gun range in south bend and the midwest gun and range in elkhart, in. going in, and even now, i have pretty strong opinions on gun legislation and proudly support president barack obama’s proposed legislation regarding the issue. however, to observe these sites i had to put my opinions aside and really dive into the atmosphere of the range.
it turns out the observations i was able to make were just fascinating. all of my preconceived notions of the range were quickly proven to be inaccurate.
first off, i really did not think i would see many women in the shooting lanes. To my surprise, women not only occupied the majority of the shooting lanes but were actually behind the counter selling guns and offering shooting advice.
The manager said the gun range has become a prime location for couples’ date nights. again, with my limited knowledge on weaponry and gun ranges, i never would have thought the range would be a social place, but it turns out it can be.
Kodiak gun range had a decent-sized lounge room where shooters could socialize while watching others shoot. The vibrant atmosphere in this lounge completely shattered my other theory about gun ranges. before, i imagined them to be very stuffy places where customers had little to no interaction with each other. well, it turns out gun ranges can actually be “family friendly.”
The staff at both ranges was also very friendly. at Kodiak, the manager was more than willing to answer my questions and even offered me a free gun safety course. after the free tutorial, he even brought me to the different types of ranges and let me shoot a couple of rounds.
shooting a handgun may not have been something on my bucket list beforehand, but now i can check it off.
i will continue to support legislation for universal background checks, renewing the assault weapons ban and a ban on high-capacity magazines. however, now my support will not be strictly based off of news articles, political experts and so forth. now, i have personally seen how shooting ranges and owning guns have become an integral part of some lives. These visits not only pushed me out of my comfort zone, but allowed me to gain a different perspective on the gun debate.
Contact Kaitlyn Rabach at krabac01@saintmarys.edu
The views expressed in the Inside Column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
Marriage then and now
opponents of gay marriage have often protested that allowing gays to marry will constitute a backdoor “redefinition” of marriage. however, i believe western societies have already substantially redefined marriage over the past 60 years. i hope to provide some necessary context for the current gay marriage debate by outlining a few of these important changes, how they took place and what they mean for the future of marriage, whether gay or straight.
marriage used to be the only relationship in which legitimate sexual relations could take place. now, largely as a result of the invention of artificial birth control and abortion, this view has changed in the eyes of many westerners. sustained extramarital sexual relationships do not always produce children they, their parents or their communities must acknowledge and care for (though more often than people would like, they still do), so the taboo on pre-marital sex has been lifted. many people still see sex as more legitimate within marriage, but outside of marriage, it is at least acceptable. furthermore, marriage used to have a strong economic component as well. most of the jobs that existed in preindustrial and early industrial societies required hard physical labor men could perform better than women. Therefore, it made economic sense for the men to devote themselves almost exclusively to these occupations while the women handled the domestic tasks they could do as well as men or better. women depended on men for the income they could not earn themselves, while men
lEttEr to tHE Editor
depended on women for cooking, cleaning, child care and the other services they didn’t have the time to do. now, with the proliferation of advanced technology, almost all jobs, including the most lucrative ones, do not require hard physical labor and can thus be done as well by women as by men. women can now earn their own income and maintain themselves independently. finally and most importantly, marriage used to be the only legitimate institution for the bearing and rearing of children. a child born out of wedlock 100 years ago would likely be disavowed by its father and raised by its grandparents, other relatives or in a charity home set up for that purpose, none of which are ideal options. however, thanks to a number of societal and technological factors such as the aforementioned greater financial independence of women, the invention of reliable paternity tests, the enactment of child-support laws and the development of all-day public schools and child care centers, a single woman — or man — can obtain the financial and educational resources to adequately raise his or her child without a spouse. Therefore childrearing, just like sex, has become acceptable outside of marriage as well.
Three of the main reasons people used to get married, namely, to have sex, raise children and efficiently divide up labor, now have less power than before because people are now doing these things outside of marriage. Today, people get married simply because they believe they want to spend their entire life with a certain person. one can easily see why this new conception of marriage is more amenable to gay marriage than the old one was. Traditional marriage was
in many ways based on the biological differences between men and women. women carried and gave birth to the children men fathered, while men did not. women were physically weaker, while men were stronger. These were the facts of life to which people had to adapt their behavior. many think now we have mastered biology with technology, these differences no longer matter, and traditional marriage has become obsolete for everyone — gay and straight.
i would suggest many aspects of traditional marriage are still relevant to us today. most people want to get married, but both scientific evidence and common sense suggests having more sexual partners before marriage makes it harder to bond with one’s spouse within marriage. a lmost everyone agrees children raised by two married parents fare better than children raised by one. finally, though women do not need men to support them financially any more, many want to take time off from work at some point to be with their children. They would benefit in that situation from having a working spouse to provide a steady source of income for the family. Traditional marriage is no longer the only possible option for couples and for society, but there are still good reasons why it may be the best. before we decide who can get married, i think we should reexamine what marriage is and what it should be.
Elliott Pearce is a senior Program of Liberal Studies and mathematics major from Knott Hall. He can be reached at epearce1@nd.edu
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
Keep your ‘traditional marriage’
as a writer of one of the many viewpoints not published after the two unfortunate “gay debate” columns of april 11, i wanted to clarify something about mr. carlson’s appreciated and graceful clarification of catholic social teaching and the chastisement from The observer for not “joining the debate” (despite the slew of letters i’m sure they received. i can name a dozen just among my own comrades). as interesting as theological arguments are about “same-sex attraction” (and viewpoints can’t really capture the dissertation-length discourse that would do justice to the topic), i have long found the incongruities in catholicism’s approach to most topics problematic at best (especially notre dame’s particular brand). The debate right now, the debate The observer should have initiated, is about the legal institution of marriage, not catholicism’s sweeping disregard of homosexual love. a nd i’d like to give my personal view, (hopefully) without doing too much damage to the cause.
as a gay man and a longtime student of queer and gender theory, i don’t have an ounce of sympathy for your “traditional marriage.” see, the “social justice fad” that is marriage equality is new to a degree. besides the marginalization and hate that could never have let the queer communities of the twentieth century dream so big as legally recognized unions, many wanted no part in your patriarchal marriage. it has been a tool for social dominance and subordination for centuries. it imprisoned women in the private home and exiled men into the public. it breeds cultural hostility as childrearing becomes private, isolated from others of difference. it binds two people together at an early moment in their lives, assuring they will evolve over the next 50 years in compatible ways and then chastising them when they don’t. it conflates notions of family and community
with genealogy. a nd many of these issues remain unresolved. but being ostracized also comes with the unique opportunity to live and love outside these power structures, and i will sing praises of the subversive power of non-normative sexualities until the day i die. a fter years of turmoil, i’m happy to be gay. i would never wish i were straight.
That does not mean, however, everything is hunky-dory in homo-paradise. The question remains, “how does one live the a merican dream as a gay man?” The united states encoded the nuclear family into its economic system, and when gay families want to live as an autonomous household and embrace the power that comes with committing long-term investment into each other’s lives, it becomes economically infeasible without marriage (not to mention basic necessities like child custody and visitation rights). w hile the term marriage carries symbolic weight that could wage the force of the federal government against gay discrimination, hate crimes and bullying, i don’t really want any part in your sadomasochistic fad of “traditional marriage.” no, i want the social and economic privileges afforded any opposite-gender pair that can sign a marriage certificate. i want the safety net the government has extended below every other married couple. i want the guarantee my family will be cared for when tragedy, death and hardship find my household. a nd i would just love to see the broken institution of “traditional marriage” suffer a hard uppercut to the face.
Joshua Whittaker senior off-campus april 14
Elliott Pearce The human i nterest
Kaitlyn Rabach s aint mary’s e ditor
We’re not in Kansas anymore
c arter boyd, i expect this is one of many responses to your column “s omewhere o ver the r ainbow” published on a pril 9. i hope the responses will concern the ideas and opinions you expressed and not you personally. accordingly, i will limit myself to the following observation: you claim to have spent much time in dialogue and research concerning the gay rights movement. however, nowhere in your response did you directly cite or quote specific bible verses or show any substantial theological research, and the little paraphrasing of the bible and c hristian doctrine you had did nothing to justify your implicit view of homosexuality as a sin and of bad quality. moreover, you engaged in offensive and flawed arguments that have engendered ridicule, outrage and incredulity among pro-gay rights individuals. Therefore, i must sincerely question how much critical and constructive dialogue you have engaged these individuals in, as you compared homosexuals to “alcoholics, murderers [and] rapists” by way of analogy, labeled the “gay movement” a fad and stated we must “heal [homosexuals] and change their hearts and lives.”
marriage is not only a religious covenant between a man and woman, but also a government-recognized institution. This is evidenced by marriage licenses, federal and state laws and regulations concerning
lEttErS to tHE Editor
actually, let’s talk about love.
it’s easy to love your friends. it’s easy to love your family (sometimes). it’s easy to love those who are a part of your community, of your niche, who share your viewpoints or who believe the same things you do.
i’m all for that love, but that’s not the kind of love i’m talking about.
i want to sign a banner in the dining hall, in la fortune or wherever in which i commit to ‘love everyone’ (note the capital e).
i’m committing to love those who say my sexuality is a disease, that i should be quarantined for my sexual orientation.
i’m committing to love those who still believe we ought to live in a racially
marriage and the legal nature of divorce. it is critically important to recognize the separate definitions of religious marriage and civic marriage. Just as other cultures and religions have definitions of marriage different from that of the c atholic c hurch, so too can the federal and state governments define marriage, as a civil institution, differently from how the c hurch defines it. i n fact, more than a few countries and states do, so contrary to your opinion, gay marriage does very much exist both as a term and an institution.
i also consider myself a c hristian and believe in a loving and benevolent g od. i further believe loving, intimate homosexual relationships are just as morally good and healthy as their heterosexual counterparts. There are no bible verses that have convinced me acting upon homosexuality is inherently sinful or that homosexuals should be denied or excluded from marriage. l eviticus 18:22 & 20:13, as well as mosaic l aw in general, were declared to not apply to g entile c hristians by the c ouncil of Jerusalem and the a postle paul. The original King James versions of 1 c or. 6:9 and 1 Tim. 1:10 should not be construed to disapprove of loving homosexual relationships, as the greek term “arsenokoites” paul coined does not conclusively refer to homosexual acts in its early context and use. a s for romans 1:26-27, i would refer you to the works of c andace c hellew-hodge and matthew v ines on that matter. That is my theological research for why i think being gay, lesbian or undecided is perfectly fine.
segregated society.
‘i
love you’
i’m committing to love those who would prefer to see me dead due to my spiritual beliefs. do not misunderstand me. do not confuse love with agreement. i believe segregation should be a thing of the past, i believe in marriage equality and freedom of religion. a nd i will defend my beliefs to those who disagree with me. but defense of my beliefs does not call for disrespect of another’s inherent humanity. a nd yes, every single person on this earth possesses this inherent humanity which we are all called to respect. i know i am right in my beliefs. but i also know i am not god. none of us are. we are all the scum of the earth, fighting
finally, i must object to a few more of your opinions. c omparing homosexuals to alcoholics fundamentally misconstrues the serious addiction alcoholism is and erroneously likens homosexuality to a detrimental addiction. c omparing homosexual behavior to murder, rape and terrorism, as you did, is offensive and illogical. c onsenting homosexual behavior is incomparable to an action in which a party is, by definition, unwillingly physically or sexually harmed. gay marriage is about so much more than the tax code, and “our seemingly important rights, freedoms, and c onstitution” are actually immensely important. The idea, “that’s why the human race still exists: because we aren’t gay,” is grossly oversimplified. it suggests a lack of understanding of the complex interactions between genes and their environment which result in the particularly complex natures of human social and sexual behavior. moreover, homosexuals can, and some do, have biological children. homosexuality is not a fad, craze, fetish or whatever else you negatively referred to it as. it is a sexual orientation just as legitimate and good as your own. people of all sexual orientations deserve your respect, not your pity. They deserve your acceptance, not your judgment. a bove all, they deserve laws that are justified by something besides a religion that isn’t necessarily theirs.
David Willcutts is an off-campus senior studying biology. He can be contacted at dwillcut@nd.edu
The views expressed in this column are those of the
tooth and nail to find some kind of truth, some higher meaning, hoping we do not get swallowed up by the vastness of this magnificent cosmos and praying we are more than a mere fraction of a decimal of a speck in reality.
To those who would see me rot for who i am: i love you.
i clearly do not agree with you. i’d prefer to stay alive. rotting is never good for the skin. i can’t imagine how much money i’d have to shell out for prescription lotion to deal with that condition. a nd hey, if you come at me in the middle of the night with a knife, i will probably try some fancy dragon style on you, because knife wounds are never fun either. but nevertheless, i am committed to love you.
every day, it is a struggle to love you, but i am up to the challenge. because to feel any less for you than i do for myself is to deify myself. i know i am not god. i know we are all equal and that we all have a right to our own beliefs. a nd i love you. loving our friends is easy. That’s not what i’m signing onto. p s. — observer, way to go upholding freedom of speech and remaining unbiased in reporting. Thank you for loving and respecting everyone’s humanity. rock on.
A serious Catholic and a serious ally
s o here’s the thing: i am c atholic. i do c atholic things like go to church on s unday and h oly d ays, have a calendar that tells me when saints’ feast days are and own several rosaries. i believe in c atholic things like the Trinity, the dignity of all created beings and that the p ope actually says some important stuff now and then. i f you’ve been paying attention so far, you may have noticed a faint hint of sarcasm up to this point. d on’t be alarmed. i only joke about these things because i am actually very serious about them. h ere’s something
else i ’m serious about: being an ally. l et’s return for a moment to the things a c atholic believes. a c atholic has respect for the dignity of all life and maintains humankind has a special and exalted place within creation. a c atholic loves all of creation and all of humanity for the sake of the o ne who created it. i feel i can state without fear of contention that people who identify as homosexual are, in fact, created beings. i f they were uncreated, then they would be g od. a s that’s not an argument anyone’s trying to make, we can dismiss
it. m embers of the lgb T community are a part of creation. They are worthy of love. m embers of the lgb T community are part of humankind. They have an inherent dignity. They are worthy of respect.
a c atholic has an evangelical duty to live his or her faith fully and so advocate it to others. This, at the most basic level, means being a kind, accepting individual. i t means being an individual who represents as best she can g od’s infinite love on earth and who leaves matters of judgment to g od. b eing c atholic means not
april 12
having sexual intercourse until after marriage or having a sexual relationship with a partner of the same sex. i t also means treating those who do absolutely the same as those who don’t.
i n summary, i am an ally because i am c atholic. i am serious about being an ally because i am serious about being c atholic.
David Willcutts guest c olumnist
Mia Lillis junior cavanaugh hall
Lucia Tosatto junior r yan hall april 12
w hen i confessed on facebook last week that i have 162 flex points left, the reaction was priceless. “w hoa dere,” commented my friend laurie breed, one of several innocent facebook users who stumbled upon my confession. many people commented with varying degrees of the same sentiment, a vague mixture of incredulousness and jealousy.
over the last few days, i’ve talked to a handful of people in the same predicament. one friend had 250 flex points burning a hole in his pocket. a nother friend had upwards of 300 flex points last week. apparently, the frugal notre dame student is not as much of a rarity as my facebook friends originally thought.
To many a starbucks connoisseur, the fact that anyone could still have flex points this far into april seems impossible. i mean, if you buy yourself a venti raspberry w hite mocha and a lovely piece of pound cake every day, i’m not surprised that your flex points met their untimely end before midterms rolled around. but for those of us who gave up chocolate or the huddle or starbucks or Taco bell for lent and are swimming in flex points, i’ve come to your rescue.
let’s say you have 150 flex points and you’re just dying to get rid of them. follow my guidance and you’ll be left with zero flex points in no time.
Start your Christmas/School Supply Shopping for some of you, if you’ve made it this far in the semester with your flex points, it’s probably because you feel like you have to spend them on logical purchases and not on a daily churro. for you practical folks out there, the best way to spend your overflow of flex points without feeling the onset of buyer’s remorse is to follow your instincts. does your mom love her ground starbuck’s coffee beans? buy her three bags of dark roast from starbucks. she’ll never know she should be thanking the university for the gift and not her offspring. 111 flex points to go. do you have a thing for that cute barista? be brave. strike up a conversation. can’t decide between a refreshing peppermint mocha and a calming chai tea latte? ask your crush what they think. let your flex points bring you a love connection. 106.
do you always run out of staples and steal from your roommate? a re you always ripping your papers because you don’t have a hole puncher? do you throw your papers haphazardly across your desk because you don’t have enough folders? do you get sick of highlighting everything in yellow?
cheapskate, you no longer have a valid excuse. stop mooching of others, stop torturing your roommate with your clutter, and go buy every school supply you’ve ever needed from the huddle. chances are that you’ll still be left with more flex points than you know what to do with. 85.
make new Friends
for those of you flex point hoarders who possess the finesse of a graceful social butterfly, use this opportunity to make new friends.
next time you find yourself standing in the starbucks line, look at the person behind you who is waiting for his or her own drink. w hen the time comes to purchase your drink, tell the barista you’d like to buy the drink of the person behind you too. w ho knows, you might creep them out or you might brighten their day or you might make a new friend — probably all three. 76.
That friendly acquaintance of yours in the philo discussion group who always dozes off, you’ve asked her about her narcolepsy many times. she always explains that she never has time to stop by the huddle to get herself tea in the morning. Thus, regardless of how riveting the discussion, she just can’t manage to keep her eyes open. come to class one day with the fruitiest, most delicious tea you can find and offer it to your fellow domer in need of some caffeine. w hat’s a few less flex points at this point? 75. or maybe get both of you tea once a week til the end of the year. 69.
your roommate has been having a rough day. her professor has decided to move up a dreaded cumulative exam and she’s completely unprepared. you know, you’ve always wanted to buy one of those jumbo r ice Krispy treats and walk out of the huddle shamelessly with it in your hands, proudly embracing the freshman fifteen. now you finally have a compelling reason to do so. 50.
make assorted candy bags and leave them around the library with little notes on them, so that hopefully one late night studier will find some solace in an unexpected bag of gummy worms. 40.
to Give is Better than to receive perhaps the best thing you can do with your flex points is to give to the less fortunate. with all the stress of a college student, it’s easy to buzz through each day without taking the time to stop and be thankful.
a ll around us, in the south bend area, our country, and our world, there are so many people suffering without the most basic humans amenities. food, water, and shelter is merely a dream for many of our brothers and sisters across the globe.
as a few people have pointed out to me, a lot of things can be purchased here on campus with flex points and donated to the south bend community.
if you’re looking for a place to donate, consider the center for the homeless in south bend. on their website, they post suggestions for donations that are of immediate and ongoing need to them. many of these items you can easily buy at the huddle.
Take this article with you on your next run to the huddle and check off items to purchase for the less fortunate in our area:
school supplies, lysol wipes, shampoos, conditioners, Q-tips, band-aids, deodorant, Toothbrushes, Toothpaste, a nd then, finally, 0.
a nd then there Were none
To whom much is given, much is expected. enjoy the last month of school in any way you choose, but i implore you to use your wealth of flex points for good instead of evil.
soon enough, you too will be devoid of flex points, residing in the painful purgatory that is putting money into your domer dollars account. but until then, take up the cause and use your excess of flex points in a quirky, kind, or charitable way. you’ll be glad you did.
Contact Gabriela Leskur at gleskur@nd.edu
The views in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
Gabriela Leskur s cene writer
By ALLIE TOLLAKSEN
s cene writer
The center for social concerns teamed up with the browning cinema friday to present “how To survive a plague,” an academy award-nominated documentary about the aids activist group acT up acT up, or the aids coalition to unleash power, formed in the mid1980s as an advocacy group for people suffering from hiv and aids as the disease reached epidemic levels in new york city.
“how To survive a plague” takes its audience through the history of aids in a merica from the early 1980s to the mid 1990s. acT up included hundreds of participants, but the movement intentionally elected a single leader. This way, the film focuses on many key activists who were involved in the acT up movement, including those involved in aids research, advocacy and legislation.
assistant professor of sociology, Terence mcdonnell, who researches aids movements like acT up, introduced the film. he encouraged the audience to notice the visuals used by acT up protestors. footage taken from cameramen within the organization and from news sources chronicles the powerful protests acT up held, which included demonstrations against wall street, drug companies and the fda. Throughout the movie, the organization’s motto, “silence= death,” and their symbol, a pink triangle, can be seen on every member over a dozen years, signifying the power and growth of their campaign.
The documentary, composed mostly of rare footage of acT up meetings, protests and homemade psas in a
time when cameras needed two hands for holding, provides a glimpse into organizational power of the acT up movement and made the film fascinating from the start. but while the organizational strength of acT up is chronicled in “how To survive a plague,” so is the heartbreaking tragedy of the aids epidemic. The film begins by presenting a worldwide death toll of the aids epidemic in the year 1983. as the film takes the audience through the proceeding years through the eyes of acT up, it also revisits that toll, reminding us of the enormous opponent the group is up against. The disease was not the only thing aids activists were trying to fight at this time — their obstacles included discrimination, homophobia, government bureaucracy and complacency from researchers and public health workers alike. as the movie continues, it tells of the many accomplishments of the acT up movement. Through diligent research, civil disobedience and, as members recollect in interviews, pure anger, the organization helped give thousands of a mericans access to aids treatment and made the aids epidemic a national issue. The organization gave a voice to the thousands of people suffering from the disease and forced politicians and drug companies to be accountable for the crisis. The actions and accomplishments of acT up were, in many ways, awe-inspiring.
The most commendable part of “how To survive a plague,” however, was its brutal honesty. The film doesn’t simply praise the activists, but examines the failures of the organization. in this way, the movie reflects a very human struggle, grappling with human loss, administrative setbacks, and periods of disbelief amongst even
the most adamant supporters of acT up if there is any theme that viewers should take away from the movie, it is a sense of hope in the fact that collective action by a group of impassioned advocates can create significant cultural and policy changes. without the aggressive campaigning and action by peter staley, larry Kramer, bob rafsky, david barr and countless others, aids drugs and other antiretroviral medicines would not have been made available to the public. stigmas regarding homosexual men and promiscuity that caused denial of treatment and ignorance of the disease still would surround aids in the united states today. of course, the fight against aids is not over, which the film definitively conveys. with the close of the film, “how To survive a plague” shows the number of people infected with aids today—a number now around 40 million. Though this fact is daunting, the film encourages us all to get involved with the fight against aids as well as the fight for health care justice and unity in marginalized communities. it is clear that though “how To survive a plague” tells of one community in one city over two decades, the legacy of acT up has and will live on.
Contact Allie Tollaksen at atollaks@nd.edu
“How to Survive a Plague” Public Square Films
Directed by: Dan Cogan
s cene writer
welsh alternative rock band The Joy formidable graced the stage of l egends’ this past Thursday night. a fter a sloppy-yet-energizing start by Team spirit, the opening band, The Joy formidable rocked onto stage. unfortunately, the show was cut short due to leader singer r itzy bryan’s health issues. despite this early end to the show, The Joy formidable and Team spirit produced a noise and night, which was, in fact, formidable. Team spirit, headed by ayad a l adhamy (formerly of passion pit), forcefully tried to take the audience on a rock n’ roll high. adhamy sung, sweated, and jammed so hard at times he seemed in danger of falling down. Team spirit is just a fledging band — their ep was released just two days before the show at l egends — but they made up for their inexperience with their soul power.
The band did its best to pump up l egends and for the most part succeeded, especially with songs such as “f*** the beach” and “Jesus, he’s a lright”. The audience seemed to lose a bit of energy with the extensive break between the opener and the headliner, but when The Joy
formidable came on, the audience was ready for more.
The Joy formidable was loud in the best kind of way, complete with rampaging guitars and a giant gong. i was impressed by the amount of sheer noise emanating from this welsh trio. l ead singer, r itzy bryan, provided a softer edge to the rock n’ roll vibe. sporting a cookie monster baseball hat and a black sequined dress, she stood out both visually and vocally. bryan’s voice, feminine yet forceful, contrasted with bryan’s guitar, matthew Thomas’s percussion, and r hydian dafydd’s bass.
bryan wasn’t the only visually pleasing aspect of the show. behind the band, a giant lit-up wolf’s head, reminding the audience of their recently released sophomore album, “wolf’s l aw,” served as backdrop. This neon-lighted wolf’s head doubled as a projection screen for ever-changing images throughout the show.
The Joy formidable played seven songs, one of my favorites being “austere,” a track that is so catchy and danceable the audience is compelled to dance and sing along before they can stop themselves.
a fter a song “about the real kind of friendship, not the facebook friends,” bryan started looking reserved and not as high-energy as she had in the previous songs. w hile i thought it might be because she was feeling
emotional about the song, bryan revealed after the song’s conclusion that she wasn’t feeling well.
bryan announced that she had to cancel the show. she had been feeling unwell for the past few days and said she feared she might pass out. bryan’s remorse for canceling was perhaps one of the sweetest parts of the show.
The Joy formidable never cancelled a show or ended a show early before, and bryan couldn’t stop apologizing to the crowd. The audience cheered for bryan and yelled at her to go sit down and get off the stage. a lthough The Joy formidable only got halfway through their set, and didn’t play “w hirring,” their most popular song, the spectacle they put on still made the trek out to l egends’ worthwhile. i was most impressed by the attitude and spirit of front-woman r itzy bryan. despite sickness, she didn’t cancel a show in the tiny town of south bend. despite having a pounding, electric sound that aspires to larger venues, she didn’t mind being face-to-face with the audience. a nd she did it all while rocking out in a cookie monster hat.
Contact Maggie Waickman at mwaickma@nd.edu
The views in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
Maggie Waickman
w hy i can’t root for Tiger
we all make mistakes. m istakes are truly fixtures of life, as common as breathing. so i get it — nobody is perfect, and so i believe in second chances.
but there’s something holding me back with Tiger woods. There’s something holding me back when people root for him on sunday at the masters. sure, there’s the argument that he’s good for golf and that people can like Tiger the g olfer and not Tiger the person, but i still can’t do it.
i just can’t root for Tiger after he admitted to infidelity and destroyed his family. maybe i have a double standard when it comes to the lives of athletes off the field, court or course. i’ll willingly give a ngels outfielder Josh hamilton second chances.
a nd third and fourth and fifth chances. he has an addiction, and he’s actively working to fight it.
you can argue that when someone engages in countless affairs like Tiger did, that person has an addiction as well. he probably does/did, and it might even be out of his control. but Tiger directly messed with the sanctity of the family, while hamilton directly messed with his own body. w hen you’re addicted to a drug, the main person you’re harming is yourself. w hen you’re married and addicted to other women, the main person you’re directly harming is your wife.
i understand Tiger is good for the game of golf — there’s really no getting around that. r atings and attendance are higher when Tiger is in action and, more importantly, in contention. s o i understand the fans and media members who hoped Tiger would not be disqualified after the second round of the masters this weekend for taking an illegal drop. but i don’t really care about how good he is for the game. r atings don’t matter to me like they do to the suits at cbs and espn i was perfectly content as i followed other masters storylines throughout the weekend. give me 14-year old Tianlang guan over Tiger. it doesn’t matter to me that guan failed to shoot a round under par, or that he finished at +12. he was a fun story to follow regardless of how he performed. give me the three aussies — Jason day, adam scott and marc l eishman — at the top of the leaderboard who may not have Tiger’s big pedigree or
T
v ratings. g olf has always been billed as a gentleman’s game, so shouldn’t golf fans expect integrity out of its participants?
Then there’s the argument that cheering for Tiger the g olfer is justified because the transgressions of Tiger the person are completely separate. To me, however, the two are not independent. Tiger the g olfer is just like Tiger the person.
he comes off as pompous on the course and in interviews. he’s known for throwing his clubs and yelling at spectators on the links. o ff the course, he gives answers as if he’s agitated because the reporters are wasting his time. it all adds up to a g olfer, a person and a Tiger that is looking out for just himself.
That self-centered vibe from Tiger the g olfer is the same one i feel must have allowed a person to take actions to ruin his family. some may argue that Tiger the person merely made a mistake. a nd maybe he did, but it’s infinitely tougher to forgive Tiger when you see him chucking clubs and giving snide answers to media members.
because of those antics, i’m not as willing to see Tiger as someone victimized by an addiction or a disease. he strikes me as a cold, self-centered person focused on Tiger and no one else. it’s the same idea with unloved superstars like a lex rodriguez and barry bonds. Thus, when steroid allegations arose against those two sluggers, i struggle to find them innocent because of their unrepentant demeanors.
c ontrast a-rod, bonds and Tiger with l ebron James, and the picture becomes clearer. l ebron was once an undisputed villain, but after the heathating hysteria died down, (more) fans could once again cheer for the fun-loving l ebron because they saw him as an easy-going guy. a nd easy-going guys make mistakes. i can forgive l ebron for ‘The decision’ and for his proclamation of “not one, not two, not three…” championships for the heat. humans make mistakes. Tiger, meanwhile, doesn’t strike me as human. he’s machine-like in everything he does.
so i can’t forgive him because robots don’t make moral mistakes. humans do.
Contact Mike Monaco at jmonaco@nd.edu
The views expressed in this Sports Authority are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
GolF
Scott claims first green jacket in playoff
Associated Press
augusTa, ga. — adam scott finished the job this time, and put an end to more than a halfcentury of australian misery at the masters.
with the two biggest putts of his career, scott holed a 20-footer for birdie on the 18th hole of regulation that put him into a playoff with a ngel cabrera, and then won his first major championship sunday with a 12-footer for birdie on the second extra hole.
scott leaned back and thrust his arms in the air after the putt dropped on the 10th hole, a celebration for all of australia and personal redemption for himself. it was only last summer when scott threw away the british open by making bogey on his last four holes to lose by one shot to ernie els. The 32-year-old handled that crushing defeat with dignity and pledged to finish stronger given another chance. “next time — i’m sure there will be a next time — i can do a better job of it,” he said that day.
scott was close to perfect, and he had to be with cabrera delivering some brilliance of his own.
moments after scott made his 20-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole for a 3-under 69 to take a one-shot lead — “c’mon, aussie!” he screamed — cabrera answered with an approach that plopped down 3 feet from the cup, one of the greatest shots under the circumstances. That gave him an easy birdie and a 2-under 70.
They both chipped close for par on the 18th in the first playoff hole, and cabrera’s 15-foot birdie putt on the 10th grazed the right side of the cup.
with his long putter anchored against his chest, scott’s putt was true all the way.
The masters was the only major an australian had never won, and scott was among dozens of golfers who routinely rose in the early hours of monday morning for the telecast, only to watch a horror show. The leading character
was greg norman, who had four good chances to win, none better than when he blew a sixshot lead on the last day to nick faldo in 1996.
There was Jim ferrier in 1952, bruce crampton 20 years later, and scott and Jason day only two years ago. norman, though, was the face of aussie failures at the masters, and scott paid him tribute in butler cabin before he slipped on that beautiful green jacket.
“australian is a proud sporting nation, and this is one notch in the belt we never got,” scott said. “it’s amazing that it came down to me today. but there’s one guy who inspired a nation of golfers, and that’s greg norman. he’s been incredible to me and all the great golfers. part of this belongs to him.”
scott was just as gracious in victory as he was last summer at royal lytham & st. a nnes. he and cabrera flashed a
thumbs-up to each other after their shots into the 10th hole in the playoff, and they walked off the 10th green with their arms around each other when it was over.
“such is golf,” cabrera said. “adam is a good winner.” it was a riveting conclusion to a week filled with some awkward moments. There was the one-shot penalty called against 14-year-old guan Tianlang that nearly kept the chinese teen from becoming the youngest player to make the cut. There was the illegal drop by Tiger woods, who was given a twoshot penalty over questions and confusion about why he was not disqualified for signing an incorrect card.
a nd at the end, there was shot-making at its finest.
scott didn’t make a bogey after the first hole, and he really didn’t miss a shot the rest of the day on a rainy sunday at augusta.
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or assistance, please call Ann Whitall at 1-0084 or Karen Kennedy at 1-5550. For more information, visit ND’s website at: http://pregnancysupport@nd.edu
AP Australia’s Adam Scott celebrates after making a birdie putt on the second playoff hole to win The Masters on Sunday in Augusta, Ga.
Mike Monaco sports e ditor
belles double up on manchester
By CASEY KARNES sports writer
saint mary’s swept a nonconference doubleheader at home sunday against manchester, winning 8-5 and 9-1 in five innings.
with sunday’s pair of victories, saint mary’s (12-10, 2-0 miaa) has won all six home games this year. belles coach erin sullivan said she believes the confidence her team plays with at home has contributed to its home-field success.
“i think our team was itching to get playing again, and we have been playing extremely well at home,” sullivan said. “it was nice to finally get outside on a beautiful day and our team capitalized on the opportunity to play.”
The spartans (15-11, 7-3 heartland collegiate athletic conference) did not make it too easy on the belles in the first game, jumping out to a 4-0 against the belles’ ace, junior pitcher callie selner. manchester’s pitching kept the belles down through four innings, but senior captain and shortstop emily sherwood’s solo home run built some momentum for saint mary’s. The team scored seven more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to open up its lead.
sullivan credited selner and sherwood for their perseverance in helping the team rally back.
“callie selner was very effective and managed to come back strong after some defensive miscues,” sullivan said. “i think senior emily sherwood had an outstanding day. she hit the second hr of her career and started our scoring in the first game.”
sullivan also recognized freshman third baseman Kayla chapman, who went 3-for-6 for the day. a fter the seven-run fifth inning, the belles cruised
to the final margin of 8-5 behind selner’s strong pitching. heading into the second game, sullivan said she wanted her players to stick closer to the game plan they had established prior to the first game.
“we wanted to score first, which did not work in the first game, but we made an adjustment for game two,” sullivan said. “we also wanted to bounce back quickly from errors and make sure to capitalize on the other team’s errors. i believe we did this very well and i think it bodes well for our remaining games.”
chapman was the star of game Two, hitting a game-breaking home run in the third inning.
The belles had already stretched their lead to 3-0 by capitalizing on passed balls, but chapman’s three-run home run gave them an insurmountable lead. a fter the spartans scored a run in the top of the fifth against freshman pitcher sarah burke, the belles responded with three more runs to end the game in the bottom of the inning.
between chapman’s performance at the plate, and burke’s pitching in the circle, sullivan said she is happy with how the team’s freshmen have developed this season.
“we knew from the beginning of the year we would need the freshmen to step up and fill big roles, especially with only five returning players,” sullivan said. “i think they have really bought into the program and are gaining more and more confidence every day.”
The belles will look to keep their winning streak going when they meet calvin at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
Contact Casey Karnes at wkarnes@nd.edu
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wrigley to receive facelift
Associated Press
chicago — The historic home of the chicago cubs will get a $500 million facelift, including its first electronic outfield video board, as part of a hard-fought agreement announced sunday night between the city of chicago and the ball team.
wrigley field also will host an expanded number of night games under the announced pact, as part of cubs owner Tom r icketts’ plans to renovate the second-oldest ballpark in the major leagues, boost business and make baseball’s most infamous losers competitive again.
mayor rahm emanuel hailed what the two sides called a “framework” agreement in a joint statement issued sunday night, noting that it includes no taxpayer funding. That had been one of the original requests of the ricketts family in a long-running renovation dispute that at times involved everything from cranky ballpark neighbors to ward politics and even the re-election campaign of president barack obama.
“This framework allows the cubs to restore the friendly confines (of wrigley) and pursue their economic goals, while respecting the rights and quality of life of its neighbors,” emanuel said in a news release sent to The associated press.
still uncertain was how the agreement will sit with owners of buildings across the street from wrigley who provide rooftop views of the ball games under an agreement with the cubs that goes back years. This month they threatened to sue if the renovations obstruct their views, which they claimed would drive them out of business.
The statement from emanuel’s office says a “video board” is planned for left field
Cubs players warm up at Wrigley Field before their 2012 home opener. The iconic stadium will get a $500 million renovation.
and a second sign would be erected in right field patterned on an existing Toyota sign in left field. The statement does not indicate how large the video screen or second sign would be, saying only that “the cubs will work with the city on placement of both ... to minimize impact on nearby rooftops to the extent consistent with the team’s needs.”
The city and ball club said they hoped that the agreement would allow the cubs to obtain necessary city approvals for the work by the end of the current baseball season.
The r icketts family, which bought the cubs in 2009 for $845 million, initially sought tax funding for renovation plans. with that out in the new proposal, the owners will seek to open new revenue streams outside the stadium. under the proposal, the r icketts family would be allowed to build a 175-room hotel, a plaza, and an office building with retail space and a health club.
a lso included in the proposal
Observer Staff Report
s aint m ary’s was scheduled to compete in the d utch s pring i nvitational at r avines g olf c lub in s augatuck, m ich., but the meet was canceled due to poor weather conditions.
c urrently, there is no makeup date in place for the meet, which was to be hosted by fellow miaa conference member h ope c ollege.
The b elles finished ninth in a field of 20 teams at their last meet, the w ashington
are plans for 40 night games, four yearly concerts and easing of restrictions on smaller events. currently the team plays about 30 night games. The plan also addresses chronic complaints about parking in the densely populated wrigleyville neighborhood, including the addition of 1,000 “remote” parking spots that will be free and come with shuttle service.
“we are anxious to work with our community as we seek the approvals required to move the project forward,” r icketts said in the statement.
The site of babe ruth’s “called shot” home run in the 1932 world series and more heartbreak than cubs fans would like to remember, the 99-yearold wrigley is only younger than boston’s fenway park. it has long been a treasured showplace for baseball purists — night games were only added in 1988 — but team officials for years have desperately wanted a true upgrade, saying it costs as much as $15 million a year just to keep up with basic repairs.
u niversity in s t. l ouis s pring i nvitational.
s aint m ary’s will host the first miaa ncaa qualifier of the season at b lackthorn g olf c lub in s outh b end on w ednesday. w ednesday’s qualifier will be the first of three qualifying meets, which will determine which teams will represent the conference at the ncaa d ivision iii championship.
The final two qualifiers will be hosted a pril 26 and 27 by o livet c ollege.
SmC GolF
Belles’
Kentucky wins border battle
By COLE SCHIETINGER sports writer
in the battle between Kentucky and indiana schools, the hoosierland team of notre dame and indiana fell just short of a third-consecutive louisville border battle victory at saturday’s meet in louisville, Ky.
going up against the commonwealth team of Kentucky and louisville, the tandem of the irish and the hoosiers managed to keep things interesting even though they lost 204-196.
senior rebecca Tracy and junior michelle brown set meet records during saturday’s contest.
Tracy continued to dominate in both the 1,500-meter and 800-meter races, bringing home victories and setting the meet record in both events. not to be outdone, brown set a meet record of her own with a 52.62-second time in the women’s 400-meter race.
senior lauren leniart and junior mary esther gourdin joined the pair on the podium, who tied to win the triple jump. Junior megan yanik, also walked away as the winner in the 400-meter hurdles. all three athletes were joined by irish teammates in the top-four of their respective events. in the 400-meter hurdles, yanik finished ahead of freshman margaret bamgbose, sophomore michelle rotondo, and junior Jaclyn winkel, respectively. in the triple jump, juniors Kelly burke and Jessie christian contributed third- and fourth-place efforts, respectively.
on the men’s side, junior logan renwick won both the long jump and the triple jump. in the long jump, renwick narrowly edged out his irish teammate, sophomore
Keith mesidor, by only 0.06 meters. notre dame dominated the men’s 400-meter race, as sophomore chris giesting, junior patrick feeney, and senior brendan dougherty took the top three places. giesting said the close competition between teammates is nothing new.
“we are all competitive and we don’t like losing, even to each other, so the fact that we have to run against each other everyday just brings out the competitor in all of us to get better,” giesting said.
“we go into each practice with the motto [that we’re] just trying to get better.”
despite being on the losing side, the irish men and women combined for 43 top-five finishes.
giesting said the meet gave the irish many positives to build on for their next competition, even though they did not walk away the victors..
“it was a bummer that we lost this weekend, but there are bigger things ahead of us,” he said. “This meet was more of a friendly competition. we have our goals set on the big east championship, and after that qualifying for nationals.”
The irish will split up Thursday, with some team members competing in walnut, calif., for the mt. sac relays and others traveling to bloomington, ind., for the polytan invitational.
Contact Cole Schietinger at cschieti@nd.edu
ND suffers from slow start
By D.H. KIM sports writer
The irish concluded play at the two-day hawkeye invitational in iowa city, iowa, with a final score of 901 (310-292-299), placing them 11th in the 12-team field.
irish coach Jim Kubinski said his team played inconsistent each day, which caused the irish to fall in the standings.
“well, we put ourselves in a tough position with that first round,” Kubinski said. “our expectation the last couple of events was to get those four solid scores each round, and it’s not a reflection of what we can achieve, but it is where we stand at this point in time.”
Junior niall platt was one of the few consistent players throughout the three rounds, finishing tied for 11th place (74-73-72). on sunday, he posted a birdie on the 15th hole but bogeyed the 17th and 18th holes to finish with a third round
score of 74. mcnamara also shot a 74 in the third round, finishing with two double bogeys, one bogey and three birdies, but finished in 58th place overall (81-78-74).
freshman cory sciupider did not match his second round score of 67 (-5) sunday, but he shot a fourover par, 76 to tie for 21st overall (80-67-76).
“i was very pleased at our ability to play a solid round in the afternoon, aided by cory’s 67 and niall’s steady play,” Kubinski said. some irish golfers had difficulty finishing their last few holes in the final round. Junior andrew lane tallied five bogeys and one double bogey in his last nine holes to finish with a 78 for the third round.
sophomore Tyler wingo had an outstanding eagle on 15, but could not hold the momentum, as he recorded a double bogey on the 18th hole to bring his third round score down to 75 despite placing second-tolast and struggles in the last few
i rish take two wins in f lorida
By KATIE HEIT sports writer
despite battling unfamiliar conditions on the outdoor courts, the no. 25 irish snatched two victories this weekend, taking down central florida 6-1 on saturday and winning a long match against no. 56 south florida 5-2 on sunday. senior captain chrissie mcgaffigan said the irish (148, 3-0 big east) excelled despite playing in very warm weather.
“it was really hot and humid both days we competed, which we are definitely not used to, mcgaffigan said.”
The irish took control early on against central florida (137, 1-1 conference usa), claiming the doubles point with easy 8-2 victories at no. 1 and no. 2 doubles. in singles, the irish dropped only one contest, as no. 40 junior britney sanders, lost her match 4-6, 6-4, 10-3 to Knights senior genevieve lorbergs. The irish swept the remainder of singles play to claim the 6-1 victory. freshman Julie vrabel who filled in for injured sophomore molly o’Koniewski, won her first career singles match at the no. 6 position.
“Julie vrabel had a really good match,” mcgaffigan said. “she was really able to step up her performance. it was tough to play without molly, but we knew she was rooting for us from home.”
against south florida (127, 6-1), the doubles pair of freshman Quinn gleason and sophomore Katherine w hite dropped their match 5-4 at the no. 3 spot. The no. 60 duo of
holes, the irish managed to find some positives from the hawkeye invitational, Kubinski said.
“we have seen some good things,” he said. “niall has started to find his form and learned a lot about himself so far this season. cory, as a freshman, has played brilliant stretches and shown a very high ceiling.”
Kansas won the event with a score of 867 (286-290-291).
Kubinski said his squad would look to take the positives from the event and start anew.
“The neat thing for us is that the regular season is over and behind us now,” Kubinski said. “we get a clean slate, and our talent hasn’t changed.”
The irish will prepare for the big east championships, which will be held from april 28-30 at reunion resort watson course in orlando, fla.
D.H. Kim at dkim16@nd.edu
mcgaffigan and junior captain Jennifer Kellner and the no. 63 pair of sanders and junior Julie sabacinski won their matches 8-6 and 8-1, respectively, to claim the doubles point for the irish.
notre dame faced some long matches in singles play. sanders won her match in three sets, claiming a 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 victory over bulls senior Katie vasenina. Kellner also brought her match to three sets, but lost 6-4 in the third to give the bulls their first point.
despite a loss at no. 5 singles by Katherine w hite, the irish pulled off a 5-2 victory with wins at nos. 3, 4 and 6 singles. vrabel dropped her first set at no. 6 singles but recovered to win in a 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory over junior a lessandra bonte.
mcgaffigan said the south florida match was a battle from the start.
“south florida has a really talented team,” mcgaffigan said. “we had to bright our ‘a game’ in order to beat them.” with two wins in the hot outdoor conditions of florida under their belt, the irish now turn their attention to the big east championships, which begin Thursday.
“it will be a quick turnaround,” mcgaffigan said. “i think these matches were great preparation for the big east tournament, which will also be held in florida.”
The irish are back in action in the first round of the big east championships, which start Thursday in Tampa, fla.
Contact Katie Heit at kheit@nd.edu
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GRANT TOBIN | The Observer
Irish junior Jessie Christian competes in the long jump at the Meyo Invitational on Feb. 1 at the Loftus Sports Center.
have to limit our turnovers because our turnovers led to their ground balls and gave them 11 extra possessions,” halfpenny said friday night. “at the end of the day, i think that’s how they continued to come back and ultimately have one more goal than we did at the end of the game.”
The i rish rebounded from their first loss by defeating the hoyas (9-3, 3-0) on sunday in a game that featured numerous scoring runs.
a fter i rish junior attack l indsay powell scored just 18 seconds into the game, g eorgetown scored three consecutive goals to take the early lead. notre dame soon turned the tide, finishing the half on a 3-1 run to knot the game up.
“i think you had two top-10 teams coming at each other and when we both found our rhythms, we were both hard to stop,” halfpenny said. “w hen we had our crisp passing and our talking, i think we were able to do what we wanted to do.”
notre dame came out of the half firing on all cylinders, as the i rish scored four goals in a three-and-a-half minute stretch to open the lead up to 8-4. g eorgetown quickly clawed right back with a 4-0 run to tie the game at the 14-minute mark.
The i rish emerged revitalized from halfpenny’s subsequent timeout and took the lead on freshman midfielder stephanie
Toy’s goal at the 12:40 mark. The i rish then scored four of the game’s next five goals to take a 13-9 lead. g eorgetown chipped at the deficit with a last-gasp offensive blitz that featured three goals in the last minute, but it was not enough and notre dame held on for the 13-12 win.
i rish senior goalie e llie h illing made a season-high 14 saves against the hoyas, while sophomore midfielder caitlin gargan led the offense with four goals.
“i think [ e llie’s] eight stops in the first half really fueled our entire team, and our offense looked at e llie h illing and said, ‘ you’re making those stops, we’re going to go ahead and do our job,’” halfpenny said. “she was definitely the story of the game, but our freshmen and sophomores who came off the bench were amazing today and critical to the success as well.”
i rish senior attack and cocaptain Jaimie morrison sat out sunday after totaling six points against l oyola. halfpenny said the decision to sit morrison out was a personal one and noted the senior would play in the team’s next game.
“she got a couple of bumps and bruises friday night, so we decided it was just best to allow her to recover from friday,” halfpenny said.
notre dame will travel to face no. 6 syracuse on friday and no. 18 c onnecticut on sunday.
Contact Brian Hartnett at bhartnet@nd.edu
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losing streak extends to five
By VICKY JACOBSEN sports writer
luck plays a big part in the outcome of every baseball game, but the no. 16 irish couldn’t find any in pittsburgh, as the panthers swept the weekend by 4-0, 4-2 and 12-3.
notre dame (19-14, 4-8 big east) has now lost five games
in a row.
“we just continued a pretty prodigious streak of bad luck,” irish coach mik aoki. “i don’t think we played poorly, but we didn’t do enough to win.”
sophomore right-hander pat connaughton gave up three earned runs in 4.2 innings friday night. The panthers (24-9, 6-3) took the lead in the bottom of the second when connaughton gave up a single and a triple, and then added two more in the fifth inning. connaughton has thrown just 14 innings in four starts and has a record of 0-2 with a 3.21 era
“we still needed to limit his pitch counts,” aoki said of connaughton. “he can’t come off the basketball court and be expected to throw 100 pitches in a game. it would be irresponsible of us.”
freshman and junior righthanders nick mccarty and donnie hissa each threw 1.1 innings of scoreless relief, but the irish couldn’t get a break off panthers’ junior right-hander ethan mildren, who gave up just three hits in his third straight complete game.
senior pitcher adam norton got the start in saturday’s game, pitching into the eighth inning in his first loss of the year. he gave up two runs in the second inning, but, with the bases loaded with no outs, he struck out the next two batters and then coaxed a ground out to keep the game under control.
The irish got back in the game in the fourth inning, as freshman right fielder Zak Kutsulis hit a leadoff double and junior third baseman eric Jagielo tied the score with a two-run home run.
norton gave up a run in both the fifth and eighth innings,
but the irish had an opportunity to tie the game in the top of ninth when senior centerfielder charlie markson came to bat with sophomore designated hitter blaise l ezynski on base. markson hit the ball right back at the p ittsburgh pitcher, but it bounced right to the first baseman, who grabbed it and stepped on first base to end the game.
sophomore right-hander matt Ternowchek took the mound in sunday’s getaway game, which was scoreless until the bottom of the fifth. he walked the first batter of the fifth inning, struck out the next and walked another before giving up a home run to junior outfielder stephen vranka.
The irish lost control of the game in the innings that followed, giving up five runs in the sixth and four in the eighth.
“it kind of has a cumulative effect,” aoki said of his team’s losses. “i think it takes a lot of mental fortitude to continue to look at the glass half full rather than half empty.”
a lthough the weekend was a frustrating one for the irish, aoki said he’s not yet worried.
“we’ve just got to get out there and turn the tide a little bit, and i don’t think it’s anything that a win or two in a row wouldn’t fix,” aoki said. “i think there were lots of silver linings today, and now we’ve just got to put it together into one solid weekend where hopefully some of the balls that we hit find a little green grass to roll around on.”
The irish will try to break their losing streak when they travel to a nn a rbor, mich., to meet the wolverines on Tuesday at 4:05 p.m.
Contact Vicky Jacobsen at vjacobse@nd.edu
JULIE HERDER | The Observer
Junior catcher Forrest Johnson hustles down the line during Notre Dame’s game against Villanova on April 7. The Wildcats won that game 10-6, but the Irish won the series two games to one.
bats power series sweep
By KATIE HEIT
sports writer
in an emotionally charged weekend, the irish did more than sweep rutgers in a threegame series — they played the third annual strikeout cancer event to raise money for leukemia patients.
“it was a beautiful weekend,” senior pitcher brittany o’donnell said. “To give back to those patients who fight every day was great for us as a notre dame softball program.”
The strikeout cancer fundraiser was created in support of irish coach deanna gumpf’s daughter, Tatum, who was diagnosed with leukemia in 2010. strikeout cancer events were held around a game on saturday and a doubleheader on sunday. fans were encouraged to wear orange in support of the cause.
despite early snow flurries saturday, the irish (29-10, 10-1 big east) took control early on
an rbi by sophomore outfielder emilee Koerner in the bottom of the first. in the top of the third inning, rutgers (23-18, 6-8) pulled ahead 2-1 with an rbi single. sophomore catcher cassidy w hidden reclaimed the lead for the irish in the bottom of the third with a two-out grand slam over the left field fence to give the irish a 5-2 advantage. a solo home run from sophomore infielder Katey haus made the irish lead 6-2 at the end of the third.
notre dame sealed its victory in the bottom of the fifth. a fter two rutgers errors scored irish players to bring the score to 8-2, freshman pinch hitter casey a fricano hit a three-run homer, the first of her collegiate career. in sunday’s opener, notre dame took control in the bottom of the first with an rbi double from Koerner. a fricano hit her second collegiate homerun, a two-run shot over the left-field fence, to bring the score to 3-0
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irish in the bottom of the second. a n rbi double by a fricano at the bottom of the third gave the irish a 4-0 lead heading into the fourth inning.
a nother home run, this time by freshman infielder micaela a rizmendi in the bottom of the fifth, gave the irish a 5-0 lead. in the top of the sixth, rutgers claimed their only run of the contest, an rbi double increasing the final score to 5-1.
in game two, the scarlet Knight pulled ahead early, taking a 6-1 lead into the seventh. a two-run single from junior infielder chloe saganowich started the irish comeback. Two more rbi singles in the seventh left the irish trailing 6-5. w hidden completed the comeback with a three-run homerun to give notre dame the 8-6 victory.
o’donnell said each contest against rutgers taught notre dame valuable lessons about what the team needs to do to win.
“i think we learned a lot about ourselves as a team this weekend,” o’donnell said. “The key to a great team is having teammates that will rise to the occasion when the game is on the line and that’s the special ingredient this group has. we are a team of fighters.”
despite the thrill associated with the team’s three victories, o’donnell said the weekend was about more than just winning a few softball games.
“The best part of the weekend was definitely supporting Tatum and her friends,” o’donnell said.
The irish will be back in action Tuesday with a game against michigan state at 5 p.m. in east lansing, mich.
Contact Katie Heit at kheit@nd.edu
SmC tEnniS | smc 5, alma 4
i rish claim win over big east rival
By MEGAN FINNERAN
s ports w riter
o n s aturday, n o. 32
n otre d ame earned a 5-2 win against b ig e ast opponent n o. 47 l ouisville in its final dual match of the season, increasing its winning streak to six consecutive matches.
The i rish finished 3-0 in conference play, which made them the favorite for the n o. 1 seed heading into the b ig e ast championships next weekend. s aturday’s victory marked the first i rish win at l ouisville’s b ass- r udd Tennis c enter since 2007.
“ o verall. i think the recent [winning] streak plays a huge factor and we [have used] that to our advantage,” sophomore m ike f redericka said.
The i rish (16-7) took the lead from the beginning, winning the doubles point when juniors g reg a ndrews and m att d ooley took down the opposing duo of freshman Jeffrey b rown and sophomore c hris s imich 8-1 at n o. 3 doubles and the n o. 82 duo of junior b illy p ecor and freshman a lex l awson took down c ardinals sophomore a lbert w agner and freshman a lex g ornet 8-2 at the n o. 1 court.
“ i think our doubles are really starting to click now, which is really important for us heading into the tournament,” f redericka said.
s ingles play started off shakily for n otre d ame — the i rish dropped the first singles match on court n o. 3. f rom there, the i rish did not hesitate to regain control. They won four consecutive singles matches to seal the win.
n o. 89 a ndrews started the momentum swing for the i rish by defeating n o. 66 sophomore s ebastian s tiefelmeyer 6-4, 6-1 at n o. 1 singles. f reshman Quentin m onaghan followed his lead, defeating w agner 6-3, 6-2 at the n o. 2 position. p ecor clinched the win at n o. 4 singles, which increased the i rish lead to 4-1 when he took l ouisville sophomore m ichael l ippens to three sets and won 1-6, 6-3, 6-0. w ith the win secured, sophomore w yatt m c c oy added the final singles victory for the i rish side, beating g ornet 6-2, 6-7, 10-7 on court n o. 5.
n ow the squad looks to the next step, using the week to prepare for the b ig e ast championships.
“ w e want to have a great week of practice with a lot of energy and carry that energy with us into the tournament this weekend,” f redericka said.
n otre d ame will next begin competition at the b ig e ast championships, which begin Thursday at e ck Tennis p avilion.
Contact Megan Finneran at mfinnera@nd.edu
belles win on strength of singles
By D.H. KIM sports writer
s aint m ary’s edged conference rival a lma 5-4 in a closely-contested match s aturday afternoon in e ast l ansing, m ich.
The b elles (8-5, 3-1 miaa ) struggled in doubles play s aturday, losing two of the three doubles matches. The team rebounded, however, to win four of six singles matches and take the overall victory.
“ we realized we needed to focus on each match equally and win our singles matches,” b elles coach d ale c ampbell said.
Junior m ary c atherine faller and sophomore Kayle s exton defeated the s cots (7-9, 3-4) 8-6 at no. 1 doubles. faller and s exton then delivered
with key wins at no. 1 and no. 2 singles, respectively. faller won her match 7-5, 6-4, while s exton defeated her opponent by a score of 6-1, 6-1.
“The a lma match was a re -
“Everyone fought through their matches until the very end.”
Dale Campbell Belles coach
minder that every singles match counts no matter what position,” faller said.
“e veryone fought through their matches until the very end, and it felt great to have those big wins under our belts.”
s ophomores a udrey Kiefer and Jackie Kjolhede could not hold at tiebreak at no. 2 doubles and lost 9-8, 8-6 in a nail-biting match. Kjolhede rebounded to win her singles match in straight sets. b elles sophomore s hannon e lliott fell 8-2 at no. 3 doubles, but had a comeback win at no. 3 singles in a 3-6, 6-0, 6-3 decision.
The b elles currently sit in fourth place in the miaa , a half game behind Kalamazoo. The top four teams in the conference make the conference tournament, which begins m ay 2 .
The b elles will host a drian on Tuesday afternoon at 4 p.m.
Contact D.H. Kim at dkim16@nd.edu
GRANT TOBIN | The Observer
Irish freshman infielder Micaela Arizmendi swats a home run during the fifth inning of Notre Dame’s 5-1 win over Rutgers on Sunday.
island — like [new york Jets cornerback darrelle] revis island. That’s his island. you’re not going to catch anything over here, and i think that aspect of my mindset is totally different than it was last year.”
a s a freshman starting on one of the nation’s best defenses, russell said he played timidly because he was fearful of failing the team and letting people down. unsure of himself, the freshman found guidance and garnered support from defensive coordinator bob diaco, cornerbacks coach Kerry cooks and former irish linebacker manti Te’o.
“he used to take me in, just me and him, and talk,” russell said of Te’o. “he’d be like ‘man, you can do it. coach wouldn’t put you in as a freshman if he didn’t think you could do the job.’”
a nd as the season went on, russell’s fear of failure began to dissipate. heading into the oklahoma game oct. 27, russell and the irish were preparing for sooners quarterback l andry Jones, receiver Kenny stills and the rest of the vaunted oklahoma passing attack. but after holding the sooners to just 13 points and no touchdowns through the air, the freshman cornerback’s confidence level rose.
“The coaches said they believed in me after that game,” russell said. “a nd i’m like ‘ok, we’ve got to get going.’ i always knew i had the talent and everything, but that only goes so far. you’ve got to have that mindset, that savviness. you want to go out there and ball out and just dominate whoever you go against.”
now, russell is lining up across from junior receiver davaris daniels and senior receiver T.J. Jones and seeking out the pressure he shied from prior to the oklahoma win.
“l ast year, i was kind of timid,” russell said. “r ight now, when i go against T.J. or i go against davaris, i feel like i can play against anybody for sure.
i think [the key has been] just getting over that factor of fear, fear of letting people down. i like when i have the pressure on me now.”
despite his new swagger, russell said he won’t get too confident at the risk of complacency. The sophomore said his freshman year success doesn’t mean he’ll be in the starting lineup when the irish open their season aug. 31 against Temple.
“i’ve been working my tail off like i don’t have a spot, like i’ve never had a spot,” russell said. “i feel like it’s threatened every day. That’s how i look at it.” russell would go to cooks last season and ask what he needed to do to get better. The two came up with film of over 100 plays from the season in which russell did something poorly. russell said the plays — missed tackles, bad coverages — look “terrible” and have served as
fuel for his sophomore season.
“i’m trying to take my game to the next level to be one of the elite corners as far as understanding film, understanding routes, concepts,” russell said.
“i’m trying to understand the
game now. i’m trying to break it down one by one each and every day. Just work on something little each and every day.”
Contact Mike Monaco at jmonaco@nd.edu
Comeback
think that made a pretty big difference.”
rogers finished with two goals and two assists, Kavanagh found the back of the net twice and d oyle added two as well. s enior midfielder r yan foley, junior attackman John s cioscia and junior attackman westy hopkins each had one goal.
The early onslaught by g eorgetown was certainly a surprise, but it’s something that notre dame should expect. a s one of the topranked teams in the country, the i rish will get every team’s best, c orrigan said.
“it’s something that i think everybody in college lacrosse is learning,” c orrigan said.
“a nd i hope our guys got the lesson drilled today as well as you can. There’s just nothing easy out there. There are
no easy quarters, there are no easy games, and there are not easy opponents. i f you don’t come to play, somebody’s going to bring it to you just like g eorgetown did to us in the first quarter.”
w hen the new rankings are released today, notre dame has a chance to move back to no. 1. maryland, the current no. 1, lost to no. 15 Johns hopkins on s aturday and no. 2 c ornell lost at s yracuse on wednesday. no. 3 north c arolina is ahead of notre dame in the rankings, but the i rish could jump the Tar heels because of the head-tohead advantage. but what matters most to the i rish is its final home game of the year, which takes place s aturday at a rlotta stadium against v illanova at 2 p.m.
Contact Matthew Robison at mrobison@nd.edu
KEVIN SONG | The Observer Irish sophomore cornerback KeiVarae Russell listens to cornerbacks coach Kerry Cooks during an April 4 practice at Loftus Sports Center.
CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: abigail breslin, 17; sarah michelle gellar, 36; adrien brody, 40; brad garrett, 53 Happy Birthday: don’t cave under pressure. stand up to anyone trying to manipulate or control your life. focus on your abilities and utilize your skills masterfully. look at the big picture and take advantage of your past experience. getting back to your roots and reconnecting with people who have something to contribute will bring positive results. love is highlighted. your numbers are 6, 14, 21, 27, 35, 38, 46.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): set your goals and stick to them. expressing your plans and elaborating on the possibilities will drum up interest and support. socialize or take part in entertaining events that can enhance your personal life and love relationships.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): suspicions must not be ignored. your intuition is trying to tell you something and you should listen. secret plans or endeavors with people from your past are likely. protect your emotions and your assets. stay in control.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): getting together with old friends will lead to revisiting an old idea. using your skills and talent to get ahead may seem too easy, but it can probably turn out to be lucrative if you keep at it.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Take your time and hear what everyone has to say before you make a final decision regarding a personal or financial change. problems with people putting pressure on you must be handled delicately. There is nothing wrong with saying “no” nicely.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): plan a fun day. round up the people you enjoy spending time with most. a trip or a cultural event that will broaden your interests and your knowledge should be considered. helping a cause will enhance your reputation.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): stick to basics and what you know and do best. venturing too far from your comfort zone will lead to expenses and emotional upsets you’d prefer to avoid. your quest for knowledge or picking up a new skill should be your focus.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): enjoy whatever excitement you can drum up through travel, socializing or spending time with someone special. love is highlighted and making a commitment to someone will help secure your life and stabilize your future. expand your horizons and your friendships.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): stick close to home and work toward turning your surroundings into a better work and entertainment space. a creative environment will lead to unique ideas and plans for the future, but stick to a set budget to avoid stress.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): love will play an important role in the way you move forward with your personal and professional plans. changing your location or altering the way you live can be the boost you need to regenerate and advance. make a commitment.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): listen to what’s being said, but do what’s best for you. it isn’t likely you will be able to please everyone, no matter how much you bend. problems with authority figures, neighbors or peers can be expected.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): rearranging your living space or making a move from one location to another will enhance your life and give you a revived sense of what you want to accomplish and how you are going to go about doing so. love is highlighted.
PISCES (Feb. 19- March 20): practicality coupled with honesty will be a must if you are going to reach your goals. consider the facts and reassess past problems and you’ll realize you may have made a mistake. backtrack and do what’s right so you can move forward.
Birthday Baby: you are quick to react. you are persuasive, aggressive and focused.
make checks payable to and mail to: The observer p o box 779 notre dame, in 46556 enclosed is $130 for one academic year enclosed is $75 for one semester
JumBlE | david hoyT and Jeff KnureK
Sudoku | The mepham group
HiGHly punlikEly | chrisTopher brucKer
loWEr your ExpECtationS | lenny rago & paTricK cross
By MIKE MONACO sports editor
Sophomore swagger
Cornerback KeiVarae Russell finds his confidence entering Year Two
it was the eighth practice of the spring, and sophomore cornerback Kei varae russell was feeling good. he was having what he considered his best day of football yet. a nd when russell feels good, he talks. a lot.
“you’ve got to play a little arrogant,” russell said after the early-april practice. “i was talking to [early enrollee receiver] James onwualu. he came to my side one time, and they didn’t throw it. i was like ‘They ain’t throwing to you all day, man. every time, you came this way and they still ain’t throwing it.’ a nd then every time they did throw it, it would get knocked down or overthrown. a nd i was like ‘bro, you better stop coming over here.’”
fresh off a rookie campaign in which he started all 13 games at cornerback for the irish, russell said his confidence has grown
immensely heading into year two. a s a result, the fast-talking, always chirping, 5-foot-11 cornerback has been showing off his newfound swagger throughout the spring.
“every day before we do 11on-11, coach says ‘show me something. l et’s go.’ a nd i love that feeling,” russell said. “it’s like ‘ok, let’s do it. Throw the ball my way. Throw it over here. l et’s make plays.’”
a nd though russell made plenty of plays last season — he recorded two interceptions and was fifth on the team with 58 tackles — the everett, wash., native says he has a completely different mentality than he did in 2012.
“[a rrogance on the field] comes with the territory of playing corner,” russell said. “w hether someone catches a touchdown on you or not, you’ve just got to feel like this is my
see russell paGE 18
l aCroSSE | nd 10, georgeTown 8
Irish recover to top Hoyas notre dame splits difficult weekend
assist from freshman attackman matt Kavanagh. senior midfielder Ty Kimball scored on a feed from sophomore attackman conor doyle.
at the end of the first quarter, the irish (8-2, 3-1) trailed 5-2.
“from the end of the first quarter on, i thought we played well” corrigan said. “our guys showed a lot of fight. The ground balls became key, and i thought we fought for those as well as we should.”
over the last 45 minutes of play, notre dame allowed only three goals. overall, the irish outshot the hoyas 42-22 and won 13 of the 22 face-offs.
By BRIAN HARTNETT sports writer
no. 5 notre dame found itself on the opposite ends of its two one-goal games this weekend, as the irish fell to no. 20 loyola (md.), 14-13, on friday before defeating no. 8 georgetown, 13-12, on sunday at a rlotta stadium. notre dame’s season-opening winning streak came to an end at 10 games friday night when the irish lost to loyola in double overtime.
game, as they combined to score eight of loyola’s goals. paton had five goals, while schmitt added a hat trick.
“[marlee] had the ability to win that final draw in the first overtime and go one-on-one down to the goal, so i think it was more in the transition that she gave us trouble,” halfpenny said after the game. “obviously, hannah just made plays when she had to make plays.”
By MATTHEW ROBISON sports writer
no. 4 notre dame rallied from an early 4-0 deficit to beat georgetown 10-8 on sunday in a rlotta stadium.
The hoyas (5-7, 2-2 big east) converted on their first four shots, which prompted irish coach Kevin corrigan to call a timeout midway through the first quarter.
“i don’t know why we came out so tentatively, but we did,” corrigan said. “That was not [senior goalie] John Kemp. That was our defense and John Kemp not being all over what he should be, which is everybody.
That’s our whole team. we were giving up possessions and everything else.”
w hen corrigan called the timeout, his goal wasn’t to switch strategies or make major changes. rather, he just wanted to give his team a chance to refocus.
“i didn’t change anything,” corrigan said. “i just challenged our guys a little bit because i didn’t think we were being as aggressive or assertive as we needed to be in a lot of different instances. i’m happy to see them respond in a positive way like they did.”
senior attackman sean rogers broke the ice with an
in the second half, the irish offense picked up pace and the team’s defense did a much better job covering the hoyas, which allowed the irish to seize control of the game.
“i’ve got to give our defense credit,” corrigan said. “we were struggling early. we were struggling to play their action, and we were struggling to cover some of their guys. w hile we did a good job collectively as a team defense, we asserted ourselves in some of our individual matchups a little more. That helped a lot because we didn’t have to show and slide so much. we were able to stay with our guys a little bit more, and i
greyhounds sophomore midfielder sydney Thomas recovered a notre dame turnover and passed it ahead to sophomore attack hannah schmitt, who beat hilling in a one-on-one opportunity for the sudden death goal just 1:21 into the second overtime.
schmitt’s game-winning goal came after a thrilling first overtime that saw both teams score. notre dame (11-1, 5-1 big east) took the lead when junior midfielder margaret smith scored with 1:17 left in the period, but loyola (7-6, 3-1) tied it right back eight seconds later, as junior midfielder marlee paton won the draw and dashed downfield for the score.
paton and schmitt caused trouble for the irish defense all
notre dame jumped out to a strong start, taking a 5-3 lead at the 14:32 mark of the first half. loyola, however, went on a 5-1 run to take an 8-6 lead into the half, which culminated in a buzzer-beater, scored by senior attack Joanna dalton. in the second half, notre dame clawed back from a three-goal deficit to take the lead on smith’s goal at the 12:04 mark, but the greyhounds forced overtime after schmitt scored with 4:12 left in the period.
The irish committed 21 turnovers on the night, including four in overtime. halfpenny said her team’s mistakes gave loyola several extra offensive opportunities.
“The biggest thing we’ll take away from the game is that we
GRANT TOBIN | The Observer
Irish senior attackman Sean Rogers surveys the defense during Notre Dame’s 10-8 win over Georgetown at Arlotta Stadium on Sunday.
KEVIN SONG | The Observer
Sophomore cornerback KeiVarae Russell, right, talks to junior cornerback Josh Atkinson before a drill during an April 4 practice at Loftus Sports Center. Russell started all 13 games as a freshman last season.
